Goalies put in the time
Look at it this way: They can rest after the season. Kings goalie Jonathan
Quick and his counterpart in Anaheim, Jonas Hiller, are hockey’s version of longhaul truck drivers, pulling draining nightly shifts with little margin for error.
Since Jan. 1, Quick has started all but four of 31 games for the Kings. He did get a whopping four days off between starts in late February and early March.
Four days? That would represent a virtual vacation for Hiller, who has started 30 consecutive games for the Ducks, extending a franchise record every time he takes the ice. A start Friday against the Kings at Honda Center would be his 31st straight, matching the number Buffalo’s Ryan Miller made last season. Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreauand Kings Coach Darryl Sutter have been careful to give their goalies time to recover. Sutter did not think Quick looked tired in any outings on their recent trip, instead pinpointing certain fundamental issues.
“We tried to break two or three habits that he got into,” Sutter said after practice Thursday. “He probably doesn’t even notice it, right? We could have done a better job of that. It’s really like having a pitching coach. You’ve got a job to do with two guys, make sure you’re right on top of it. It’s something that I should have seen earlier and we’ve seen it coming into his game. At least Quick has Jonathan Bernier to shoulder the load, occasionally, in back-to-back circumstances. The last game Hiller did not start was Jan. 10 against Dallas. Backup Jeff
Deslauriers got the 5-2 win. “All I have to focus on is playing,” Hiller said after recording a 4-0 shutout against the Red Wings on Wednesday. “It’s great also mentally to be able to get away from the rink and come back and be excited, to be able to go out there and play again.
“I’m having a lot of fun playing hockey right now. As long as I feel healthy and I feel good, I have no problem playing that many games.”
Prospect update
Anaheim signed goaltender John Gibson to a three-year, entry-level contract. Gibson, 18, was the team’s second-round draft pick (39th overall) in 2011. He has been playing for Kitchener of the Ontario Hockey League and is 20-10-3 with a goals-against average of 2.81 and a save percentage of .926.
The Kings were also busy on that front Thursday. They signed 23-year-old forward Brian O’neill to a oneyear, entry-level deal and he will be assigned to their minor league affiliate in Manchester, N.H. O’neill, coming off his senior season at Yale University, led his team with 21 goals and 46 points in 35 games.